The World Rugby ranking places at stake on eve of Six Nations

World Rugby rankings No.2 side Ireland could narrow the gap with South Africa in the world rugby rankings to just 2.43 points from the current 3.97 if they secure a victory of more than 15 points against France in Marseille this Friday.

A defeat however would relegate the defending Guinness Men’s Six Nations champions to third with New Zealand set to move up.

France faces a critical match where only a win by more than 15 points will enhance their standing moving them up to third and causing Ireland to fall to fourth. Despite the stakes a heavy loss on home ground will not affect Les Bleus' fourth position due to England’s potential maximum gain of 0.52 points from their match against Italy in Rome which could narrow their deficit to France to just 0.30 rating points.

England’s position is also precarious as failure to win in Rome coupled with a Scottish victory in Cardiff could see them drop to sixth behind Scotland. Scotland on their part could end a 22-year drought with a win in Cardiff and even a draw would suffice if Italy secures their first victory over England by more than 15 points.

Wales has the opportunity to surpass Argentina and move into seventh with a significant win needed to also overtake Scotland. Italy aims for a historic win over England which would propel them into ninth above Fiji and Australia marking their first top 10 ranking since June 2013.

In other matches neither Georgia nor Portugal can gain points this weekend in their respective matches against lower-rated Germany and Belgium. However shock defeats would result in a drop of at least two places for either team. Spain could overtake Romania for 19th with a win over the Netherlands dependent on the match’s margin and Romania’s performance against Poland.

The Netherlands could improve to 26th with a victory over Spain marking their first test in 10 months. Poland could also ascend in the rankings with a win over Romania and further gains are possible depending on Germany’s outcome against Georgia.

In a notable African rivalry Senegal and Algeria a win for Algeria in France could see them climb at least five places achieving a new high. A more significant victory of over 15 points would drastically close the ranking gap between them and Senegal with the latter dropping to 64th and Algeria ascending to 69th. Despite potential victories Senegal’s ranking position is capped by the maximum points on offer.